How To Make Online Promoting Natural, Easy, and Fun

This article is by freelance contributor Lucy Wyndham She began her career in architecture and real estate before taking a step back to spend more time with her family as a writer and editor.

The internet is a sharing machine. That is good news for creative entrepreneurs who want to connect with customers to sell a product or service. If you think of online promoting as a task to check off of your list, you might be missing the point. Online promotions can be a natural part of your workday, and integrate smoothly with the rest of your business operations. Here’s how you can make online promoting fun, instead of a daunting chore.

Involve Your Clients

What could be better than having someone else do your work for you? Ask happy clients if they would be willing to write a testimonial for you. A testimony is a powerful piece of social proof that lets the online world know that you deliver a high-value product.

Many entrepreneurs hesitate to ask customers for a testimonial because they are afraid. But what is the worst that could happen? You could ask the client, and they would say no. Then you are right back to where you started. If you ask all of your most satisfied clients, the numbers work in your favor and someone is bound to say yes eventually.

Cross Promote

As a business owner, you're likely to engage in networking already. Use your networking activities, such as conferences and meetups, as a venue for seeking out cross-promotional opportunities.

For example, if you are a personal trainer and you meet an entrepreneur who sells nutritional supplements, you could bring up the idea of cross promoting. Offer to email out an article or webinar offer from the nutrition company. Ask that they do the same for you. This is a great way to promote to a brand-new online audience.

Better yet, collaborate with your peer to create a unique offering, as in a week of nutritional supplements combined with a week of training at a special price. Innovative collaborations are vital in the internet economy.

Publish Through Multiple Channels

If you take the time to publish a piece of content, make sure that you release it across multiple channels, not just one. For example, you could publish an article on your blog and then announce and link to the new post on your Twitter and Facebook accounts. Create a customized image that relates to the blog post, and share it on Instagram. In this way, you reach more people, yet you didn’t have to create new content.

Be Natural and Authentic

As you move through your day, share exciting and happy moments with your audience. This spur-of-the-moment sharing takes minimal effort, yet strengthens your bond with your audience by providing a new touch point. In general, the more contact that you have with your audience (in an uplifting, positive way), the better.

Promoting your offering shouldn’t feel like an insurmountable task. You can promote your company while engaging in other activities, like networking or enjoying a happy moment with co-workers. Ease the burden of promotion by engaging your customers and publishing one piece of content on multiple channels. Make your work easy and fun, and you're likely to do it every day rather than once in a while.